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Sid: Pretty much so, as long as the person doesn't come in undercapitalized. Now, there are a number of firms that will take people with a minimal amount of capitalization, allow them to trade, charge them a hefty commission on each trade, and provide them with no support service. We don't do that. We take a very personal interest in our traders. We want a person to be able to go on the floor and have the best possible opportunity to succeed. If people come in with a minimal amount of money, one of two things is going to happen. Either they are going to take unnecessary or inappropriate risks or they won't do anything, and in order to succeed on the floor, you have to trade. It's okay to start out at 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12 contracts a day, but eventually, you must build volume. |
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Neal: Volume would be what? How many contracts? |
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Sid: It depends on the pit where the person is trading. If somebody is starting in the bond pit, let's say, our goal is to get them to trade 20 to 40 contracts a day, and scratch them all for a two-week period. We want them to learn to get in and out of the market, to trade as unemotionally as possible, to get to the point that they're on automatic pilot. |
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Neal: They don't even have to think? |
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Sid: It's more than thinking. It has to do with ego. It's working to take the emotion out of your trading. It's learning that not every trade will make money. It's knowing how to deal with a loss. |
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Neal: That reminds me of one time in your training program when you grabbed me by the shoulder and said, ''Stop thinking, just do it!" |
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Sid: Right, because we don't have a crystal ball. Our goal is to let the market tell us what it wants to do. Our trading philoso- |
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